Joe Goertz Photography

Golden Week!

The last couple days of April and the first week of May is a string of holidays in Japan. These days, added with the weekends, make what Japan has named this once a year occurrence as "Golden Week". This was the perfect chance to get out of my town of Shimizu and see more of Hokkaido. My friend Sara from the United Kingsom, Hitoshi from Shimizu and I took a road trip down to the Southern end of the island to check out the cherry blossoms, fishing cultures, and the more historical parts of Hokkaido. Before arriving in Hokkaidos southern city, Hakodate （函館) we hit up a couple of volcanic lakes on the way, including lake Shikotsu-ko, Toya-ko, and Oonuma-ko. This week was all about exploring, eating, and getting to as many hot springs as we could.